General Dynamics NASSCO Lays off 290 Employees

General Dynamics NASSCO said Monday morning it has laid off 290
of its 4,100 local employees in response to declining orders. That
brings to 560 the total number of employee and subcontractor jobs
the shipbuilder has eliminated since May, when it warned that
layoffs were coming.

The cuts were about half the total potential layoffs of 1,150 --
900 employees and 250 subcontractors -- that
NASSCO said in May might take place
. NASSCO has cut 270
subcontracting jobs since May, said spokesman Karl Johnson.

The 290 employees are being laid off as of today, Johnson
said.

A subsidiary of General Dynamics, the company has long been a
major manufacturing employer in the region. Nearly all its local
employees work at the company's shipyard on San Diego Bay,.

The company builds cargo, auxiliary and support ships for the
U.S. Navy. For civilian customers, it builds oil tankers and cargo
carriers.

"Because of the downturn in our commercial and government
shipbuilding markets, we had to take this step to make sure we are
preserving what we can do as a ship and repair yard in the future,"
Johnson said.